MORRISON – “Project Safe Halloween,” Whiteside County Sheriff Kelly Wilhelmi’s new initiative that took a handful of sex offenders off the streets on Halloween, went off without a hitch and could return next year, he said.
Wilhelmi required all sex offenders on probation – 30 of the 107 registered in Whiteside County – to go to the sheriff’s department in Morrison during designated trick-or-treating hours Saturday for a meeting that took the place of a required monthly meeting with their probation officers. Two didn’t make it, and one not required to attend did.
The program benefited both children and sex offenders, Wilhelmi said, adding that he hoped it stressed the importance of Halloween safety to parents.
“We wanted to open up parents’ eyes to the dangers out there for children,” he said. “We want to be proactive in our approach to crime.”
State law forbids any sex offender who is on probation, parole or conditional discharge from participating in holiday events, such as handing out candy on Halloween.
During the meeting, probation officer Jeff Staub went over the rules and regulations of the sex offender registry, and talked about changes to state laws pertaining to sex offenders. Officers also were available to answer questions.
In general, many of those who attended found the meeting educational and responded well to it, Wilhelmi said.
“I think at first they had a lot of apprehension about it,” Wilhelmi said. “But we told them that we’re not doing this to hurt them, but we were there to help them.”
Although he cannot compel sex offenders not on probation or conditional discharge to attend, he said he would welcome all sex offenders at next year’s meeting.
Of the two who failed to appear Saturday, one had transportation problems and the other was under arrest for a non-sex related crime in another county. Court services are looking into both cases to determine whether they violated their probation, Wilhelmi said.
No information was provided on how many of the 30 were convicted of crimes involving children.
Wilhelmi is running for sheriff in 2010.